Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
18-4, 8-2
Bowling Green
7-18, 1-9
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ball State | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
| Bowling Green | 21 | 19 | 12 | 0 |
Women's Volleyball Topples Bowling Green, 3-0
October 24, 2010 | Women's Volleyball
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - - The Ball State women's volleyball team turned in another dominating performance Saturday evening, scoring a 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-12) victory over Mid-American Conference East Division foe Bowling Green at Anderson Arena.
With the victory, the Cardinals climb to 18-4 (8-2 MAC) on the year and snap a six-match losing streak to the Falcons. Prior to tonight, the Cardinals last win in the series was a 3-0 (30-27, 30-24, 30-20) sweep on Oct. 2, 2004. BGSU falls to 7-18 (1-9 MAC) with the loss.
"We turned in another great team effort on the road tonight," said head coach Steve Shondell. "Scoring a win over a team our program had not beaten since 2004 made the victory a little bit extra sweet. We went out very focused and took care of business tonight. Both victories this weekend were very important, as they kept us in the race for the MAC Championships."
Freshman outside attacker Whitney Heeres (Flushing, Mich./Flushing H.S.) turned in another strong offensive effort for Ball State, racking up a match-high 16 kills to go along with a .433 (16-3-30) attack percentage. Heeres also finished the match with a career-high four blocks and three digs.
Kylee Baker (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North H.S.) and Kelsey Brandl (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North H.S.) each blasted nine kills to help lead the BSU offense. Baker added six digs and four blocks to her stat line, while Brandl collected a match-best five blocks and two digs. Both players also served up an ace.
Junior setter Brittany McGinnis (Fraser, Mich./Fraser H.S.) guided the Ball State offense to a .308 (43-11-104) hitting mark in the win, while collecting her team-leading seventh double-double of the season with 35 assists and 10 digs.
Senior outside hitter Hannah Sullivan (New Albany, Ind./New Albany H.S.) led the Cardinals with 11 digs, while senior libero Alyssa Rio (Wayne, Ill./St. Francis H.S.) added 10. Rio also collected a pair of kills, including the match-winner.
Danielle Tonyan paced the Bowling Green attack with 10 kills, while three other BGSU attackers contributed eight kills. Ashley Dunn collected a match-high 15 digs for the Falcons.
Overall, Ball State limited the Falcons attack to a .145 (36-20-110) rate of success in the contest. BSU also held a 51 to 40 edge in digs, a nine to two advantage in blocks and a six to one lead in aces.
In the opening set, the teams played to a 20-20 stalemate with neither squad leading by more than two points. From there, a Baker kill and a Heeres solo block helped the Cardinals pull out to a 22-20 edge. After a kill from BGSU's Noelle Spitler cut the lead to one, kills from Baker and Heeres gave Ball State set-point at 24-21. Freshman Mindy Marx (Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven H.S.) followed with a frame-winning blast for the Cardinals at 25-21.
Bowling Green surged out to an early 7-4 advantage in the second set, only to see Ball State battle back and even the frame at 9-9. After pushing the score to 11-11, two-straight kills from Heeres and a Brandl service ace helped BSU take control of the set. Ball State extended its lead to seven points, at 23-16, before winning the frame 25-19 on a Falcons attack error.
With the score knotted at two, back-to-back Bowling Green attack errors and a block from Baker and Brandl gave BSU the lead for good in the third frame at 5-2. The Falcons would cut the gap to one at 7-6 thanks to a Paige Penrod kill, only to see markers from Heeres and Marx push the advantage back to three at 9-6.
One more two-point rally from BGSU cut the edge to 9-8, but kills from Heeres, Rio and Baker helped BSU pull ahead 12-8. From there, Ball State went on to score 13 of the final 17 points, winning the set 25-12. A block assist from Brandl and McGinnis gave BSU match-point at 24-11, while Rio's second kill of evening closed out the match.
The Ball State women's volleyball returns to Worthen Arena Friday, when it hosts Western Michigan in a pivotal battle between MAC West Division powers. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
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